The Sacrifice of Isaac, by Filippo Brunelleschi & Lorenzo Ghiberti
In 1401, the cloth merchant’s guild of Florence decided to commission a second set of doors for the Florence Baptistery. It was the most important building in Florence at that time, so in order to find the best sculptor, a competition was held. Now, only two of the entries survive. One by Filippo Brunelleschi & the other by Lorenzo Ghiberti. This competition began one of the greatest artistic rivalries of all time and it fuelled the creative genius of the two.
The artists were asked to depict the Sacrifice of Issac, according to the Old testament and were specified a certain amount of bronze that was to be used. The number of figures were specified and it was told to be contained within Quatrefoils, that is the gothic shape which can be seen, outlining the two panels.
According to story of Sacrifice of Isaac, God commands Abraham, to kill his only son Isaac, to test his faith. Abraham, being extremely faithful to god, agrees to do so. So he takes Isaac on top of a mountain and gets out a knife. But just as he is about to kill Isaac, an angel appears and stops him. God provides a ram (male sheep) to sacrifice, and this way, Isaac is spared.
Now if we observe the two panels, we notice a stark contrast of mood between the two.
The one on the left, done by Filippo Brunelleschi, looks very dramatic as we notice the aggressive facial expression of Abraham, his tight grip on Isaac’s hand and the way he holds Isaac’s head. Isaac’s mouth is open, as if to cry out helplessly.
Also the way the angel grips Abrahams hand, right at the very moment he is about to stab Isaac, adds to the amount of aggression and creates a sense of emergency.
In Brunelleschi’s version, we see the three figures depict a continuity of form, which gives a feeling of things happening very quickly, and all three of them, being together in a very crucial moment. Sharp diagonal lines and dramatic emotion, add a scary tension to the scene.
The donkey, the ram, and the servants are all looking away in sadness.
It is described as being far more dramatic and disturbing, with raw emotion oozing in a way that startles the viewer.
On the other hand, we see Ghiberti’s panel, which look fairly less complex in terms of form, but is emotionally more complex. We observe Abraham’s face which carries a sense of reluctance. He’s looking at Isaac with a piercing gaze and the knife is pulled back, depicting unwillingness. There’s a pause of grief visible.
During that time, the church wanted people to be fearful of god and this efficiently portrayed that.
He also managed to perfect the form of the rocks and the flowing drapery. The mountain seems to flow down almost like water, which in turn binds the entire scene together and gives a feeling of unification and swift movement of the eye, while Brunelleschi’s feels like being composed of separate parts, without a shift in emphasis between the subjects.
Ghiberti is influenced by classic sculptures and hence decide to enhance Isaac’s physical form by giving us a direct nude and a slightly muscular body, while in Brunelleschi’s version, Isaac is covered by a loincloth and portrayed as meek.
He divides the scene almost diagonally, with the mountain, such that the donkey and the servants appear to be in the foreground while Brunelleschi divides the scene horizontally, with Abraham, Isaac and the angel appearing on the upper half.
Finally, Ghiberti won the competition and was commissioned to create panels for the doors of the baptistry.
Art historians believe that the reason for his victory was the element of beauty. The beauty of Isaac’s idealised body is placed on the beautiful altar. The angel flies in gracefully, Abraham’s arm is beautifully aligned with the shoulders of his son. Their hair is beautifully coiffed and curled and the subtlety of Abraham’s drapery. The ram is even showing off his wool. If you are the guild that makes its wealth from the major cloth trade in Europe, especially from wool, the display of cloth alone would be a reason for giving the prize of the competition to Ghiberti. Also, the fact that he used less bronze as compared to Brunelleschi increased his chances of winning, as bronze was an expensive material, so to use it on the entire door would make the expense go significantly higher.
No matter the winner, both artists went on to achieve great successes and crucially shaped the renaissance. Ghiberti’s work proved to be a great triumph and he is ultimately commissioned to work on a third set of doors for the Florence baptistry.
They have been called “The Gates of Paradise” by Michelangelo, because they truly look and feel divine and they transcends the viewer into a heaven like setting and feels just like what art is supposed to make one feel.
